LSI 2108 based card cross flashing (Dell H700, LSI 9260, IBM M5015, Intel RS2BL080)

[thebad]

Had the hardest time finding a way to crossflash these cards on the net and flashing the firmware alone does not cut it since the firmware is aware of the card retail.

The tool needed for the crossflashing is MEGAREC. I have enclosed it the ZIP file attached along with the SBR for the 9260 8i, LSI M5015 and the Dell H700 integrated. It enables flashing of the identity information included in the SBR.

Download the latest firmware of the card you want to flash yours into and put it on the flash drive.

Put the files on a Bootable DOS USB flash drive and run the following commands:

0) Identify the card you want to flash
Megarec -adplist
Should return you a list of all the LSI based card detected. If you only have one card the id# of the card will most likely be 0.

1) Save your current SBR to backup SBR just in case...
Megarec -readsbr 0 backup.sbr

2) Reflash the SBR with the version you want:
megarec -writesbr 0 XXX.BIN where XXX is the name of the file you want to flash to.

3) Empty the BIOS:
megarec -cleanflash 0

4) Reboot the computer and boot from the flash drive again. Your RAID card BIOS will not load. That is normal, you just wiped it clean.

5) Flash the Firmware back:
megarec -m0flash 0 XXX.rom where XXX is the name of your rom file downloaded for the card of your choice. This will take a little while.

I have flashed a M5015 into a 9260 and then a H700 this way. Found out that the H700 performs a little better than the others. I do not have the SBR file for the intel card however.
Just thought it would be fun to post as some might be interested in doing this.

Admin Warning: Attachment not working anymore

[mattkosem]

Where do you get these SBR files? Could something similar possibly be done for the 9240-8i/M1015?

--Matt

[thebad]

Yes it can be done on other LSI cards. I actually adventured myself doing this based on someone who did it on a M1015. I found the SBR file for the H700 on a dell forum and I owned both a 9260 and a M5015. If you ask nicely I am sure someone can extract the SBR from his card and email it to you.

[mattkosem]

Here's the SBR for an M1015. Anyone able to nab the SBR from a 9240-8i?
--Matt


Admin Warning: Attachment not working anymore

[pajda]

I have fujitsu branded card (RAID Ctrl SAS 6G 5/6 512MB (D2616)), so if i reflash it witch the 9260 sbr, the card will be recognized as lsi 9260?. Am i right?
This FCS card has a very slow init upon pc bootup (over 10sec)

[thebad]

Yes it should work as long as you know for sure that it has a LSI 2108 controller.

[pajda]

thx for the answer, yep for sure its LSI 2108

[Computurd]

Wow, didnt know you could do that.

[mattkosem]

Here's a copy of dos4gw to go with that utility too. It complained and wouldn't run without it.

--Matt

Admin Warning: Attachment not working anymore

[pajda]

Confirmed it works changed my fsc card to 9260-8i but my raid5 array is not recognized and i cant import foreign configuration. Reflashed back to fsc and all works fine.

Below is a link to FSC RAID Ctrl SAS 6G 5/6 512MB (D2616) SBR and megaOEM - nice tool someone will find it useful:

MegaOEM -v
MegaOEM -help|-h|?
MegaOEM -adpCount
MegaOEM -AdpAllInfo -aN|-a0,1,2|-aALL
MegaOEM -AdpSetSASA xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -aN
MegaOEM -AdpSettings Read | Write -f FileName -aN
-Read - reads INI file, forms MFC_DEFAULT structure and sends it to the FW.
-Write - reads MFC_DEFAULT structure and creates an INI file
MegaOEM -AdpMfgSet -f fileName -aN
MegaOEM -AdpSetVerify -f fileName -aN|-a0,1,2|-aALL
MegaOEM -AdpSetVerifyRaw -f fileName -aN|-a0,1,2|-aALL
MegaOEM -AdpSetSubOEMId XX -aN
XX - sub-OEM ID in Hexadecimal.
MegaOEM -AdpGetSubOEMId -aN
MegaOEM -adpUpdatePersistentPage -f filename - aN
MegaOEM -AdpNVRAM {-Read | -Write -f FileName}|-Clear
[-StartOffset 0xXXXX ] [-EndOffset 0xXXXX] -aN

Here is the MFC_DEFAULT ini:
# MegaSAS CLI utility generated ini file for MFC programming.

subVendorId=0x1734 # sub-vendor ID for this board (Readonly)
subDeviceId=0x1176 # sub-vendor ID for this board (Readonly)
OEM = 7 # OEM Name of controller (Readonly)
SUBOEM = 0x00 # SUBOEM ID of controller (Readonly)
sasAddress = 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 # controller SAS address
phyPolarity = 0 # polarity for each possible PHY (bitmap...1=inverted) - used with phyPolaritySplit
phyPolaritySplit = 0 # polarity for TX/RX pair is different (bitmap...0=RX/TX same, 1=RX/TX different; phyPolarity.x=RX)
backGroundRate = 30 # default rebuild rate for this card (0-100)
stripeSize = 7 # default LD strip size (per DDF: 4=8K, 5=16K, 7=64K, 11=1MB, etc.)
flushTime = 4 # default cache flush time in seconds
writeBack = 0 # default LD is WriteBack (0=WT, 1=WB, 2=Adaptive)
readAhead = 0 # default LD read-ahead policy (0=none, 1=RA, 2=Adaptive)
cacheWhenBbuBad = 0 # default LD setting for enabling WB when BBU bad - 1=enable WB even when BBU bad
cachedIo = 0 # default LD is cached
smartMode = 0 # default smart mode (0=mode 6, 1=disable, 2=mode 2)
alarmDisable = 1 # default alarm to disabled if set
coercion = 0 # 0=none, 1=128M, 2=1G, 3=reserved
zcrConfig = 0 # ZCR configuration data (0=unknown, 1=RADIOS, 16-31=IDSEL for ZCR)
dirtyLedShowsDriveActivity = 0 # 1=change dirty LED to show drive activity
biosContinueOnError = 1 # 1=continue BIOS boot on error - default
spindownMode = 0 # drive spindown mode on shutdown (0=none, 1=internal only, 2=external only, 3=all)
allowedDeviceTypes = 0 # 0=SAS/SATA mix, 1=no SATA(SAS only), 2=no SAS(SATA only)
allowMixInEnclosure = 1 # allow SAS/SATA mix within an enclosure
allowMixInLD = 0 # allow SAS/SATA HDD mix within an LD
allowSataInCluster = 0 # allow SATA drives to be used in a cluster configuration
allowSSDMixInLD = 0 # allow SAS/SATA SSD mix within an LD
allowMixSSDHDDInLD = 0 # allow SSD/HDD mix within an LD
maxChainedEnclosures = 16 # maximum number of enclosures that may be chained
disableCtrlR = 1 # 1=disable Ctrl-R configuration utility, 0=enable Ctrl-R utility
enableWebBios = 1 # 1=enable WebBIOS configuration utility, 0=disable WebBIOS utility
directPdMapping = 0 # 1=enable direct PD mapping, 0=persistent PD mapping
biosEnumerateLds = 1 # 1=BIOS to display LDs at POST
restoreHotSpareOnInsertion = 1 # HSP kicks in, insert the failed drive, it becomes HSP
exposeEnclosureDevices = 0 # 1=device driver should expose enclosure devices, 0=hide enclosure devices
maintainPdFailHistory = 1 # 1=enable tracking of bad PDs across reboot; will also show failed LED status for missing bad drives
disablePuncturing = 0 # 1=Don't puncture LBA's in PD's. 0=okay to puncture. This is for SAS drives
zeroBasedEnclEnumeration = 0 # 1=Enclosure enumeration start with Zero. 0=Enclosure enumeration start with One.
disableBootCLI = 0 # 0=enable pre boot CLI tool, 1=disable pre boot CLI.
quadPortConnectorMap = 0 # Bitmap defining connector map for 8 quad-ports, 0=Internal connector/unused, 1=External connector/SAS MUX control.
driveActivityLed = 1 # 0=No LED for drive activity, 1=Show all drive activity.
disableAutoDetectBackplane = 0 # 0=SGPIO/i2c SEP enabled, 1=disable auto detect SGPIO,2=disable i2c SEP auto detect,3=disable both auto detect.
enableLedHeader = 0 # 0=No LED for drive faults, 1=enable LED for drive faults.
useFdeOnly = 0 # 0=FDE and controller encryption (if HW supports) is allowed, 1=Only support FDE encryption, disallow controller encryption.
delayPOST = 0 # intentional delay to be introduced during FW POST. Possible coded values: 0 to 7,which gives a value of 0,15,30,45,60,75,90,105 seconds
enableCrashDump = 0 # 1=enable collection of system core in event of a controller crash
disableOnlineCtrlReset = 0 # 1=disable online controller resets, 0=allow online controller resets
enableLDBBM = 1 # 1=enable LD Bad block management
allowUnCertifiedHDDs = 1 # 1=allow, 0=block, 2=Warn & allow
treatR1EAsR10 = 0 # 1=treat single span R1E as R10
maxLdsPerArray = 0 # 0=16 LDs per array, 1=64 LDs per array
disablePowerSavings = 0 # 0=enable all power saving options,0xff=disable all power saving options ,1=Don't spin down unconfigured drives, 2=Don't spin down Hot spares
spinDownTime = 30 # Default spin down time in minutes
snapVDSpace = 3 # % of source LD to be reserved for snapshot in snap VD
autoSnapVDSpace = 8 # % of source LD to be reserved for auto snapshot in snap VD
viewSpace = 4 # snapshot writeable VIEWs capacity in 227362060f src VD capacity. 0 - READ only
failPdOnSMARTer = 0 # 1=fail a PD that's reached SMART failure threshold, if it doesn't take an LD offline
nonRevertibleSpares = 0 # 1=hot spares are not revertible
enableJBOD = 0 # 1=enable JBOD mode, 0=disable JBOD mode by default

http://www.mediafire.com/?q2l73w5kw2e7pdy

[pajda]

Can anyone upload 9260-8i SPD file created with megarec?

[thebad]

Can anyone upload 9260-8i SPD file created with megarec?

It's in the file on the first post...

Edit: nevermind. you want the spd file?

[Kayin]

Do you happen to thave the flash for Intel SRCSAS18E to LSI MegaRaid 8408? If not, cool, but I thought I'd ask.

[pajda]

It's in the file on the first post...

Edit: nevermind. you want the spd file?

yep the SPD

[Aurhinius]

Yes I wouldn't mind someone posting a 9240-8i original SBR so that I can flash my M1015 controller with it :-)

[Aurhinius]

no one able to dump the SBR of their 9240 -8i?

Must be plenty of them out there?

[madllama]

Nice work.
I recently acquired a dell H700 controller and was hoping to use it for cachecade
But apparently for Dell controllers it only works with Dell branded SSDs

Has anyone tried to use cachecade? any experiences with restrictions on SSD branding with the different firmware flavours?

[Computurd]

thanks for linking the review, that guy sure knows his stuff!

i have used cachecade, but am unaware of any type of SSD branding requirements. maybe you could explore flashing the Dell branded SSds with a different firmware. doubt it will work though tbh. strange that Dell would do that.
i do know that cachecade works with any type of SSD with the LSI cards.

big thumbs down to dell for pushing their proprietary BS, but not surprised they would do so.

[madllama]

Sorry about the late reply.
No worries on the review, its something that I stumbled upon when trying to find out more information, which unfortunately is a bit thin on the ground.

Good to know that you havent encountered any branding requirements. Apparently they introduced them for their HDDs, but reversed their position after everyone complained. Even so all of their documentation for cachecade still refers to Dell branded SSDs only being supported.

Things are pretty busy these days, but hopefuly I might get a chance to experiment next weekend and I will be sure to report back here if you guys are interested.

[TheDrew]

I have flashed a M5015 into a 9260 ...

Did you by chance do that with the M5000 feature key engaged? I have a pair of M5015's w/ M5000 key's I'd like to reflash if they complain about non-IBM drives (as some ServeRAID cards have done to me in past).

[thebad]

Did you by chance do that with the M5000 feature key engaged? I have a pair of M5015's w/ M5000 key's I'd like to reflash if they complain about non-IBM drives (as some ServeRAID cards have done to me in past).

Not sure what you mean. I have the M5000 key. I did not check whether it still worked when I had the 9260 FW on it. You can always flash back if it doesn't though.

[TheDrew]

Not sure what you mean. I have the M5000 key. I did not check whether it still worked when I had the 9260 FW on it. You can always flash back if it doesn't though.

Sorry I should have been more clear. What I mean is with the LSI firmware in place of IBM's, does the M5000 key still give access to the features it unlocks on the IBM firmware? RAID6, SED, etc.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth cross-flashing to the LSI firmware or sticking with IBM's. My concern (as yet unverified) is that the IBM firmware will complain when non-IBM disks are attached to the controller. Earlier IBM ServeRAID controllers I've worked with had fits when non-IBM drives were used.

[thebad]

Well, All I know is that the key recognition is done through a code that goes beyond the firmware: I tried installing a fastpath key on my M5015 flashed to 9260 and it did not work. I found out I needed to flash another level with the MegaOEM program to do that and I switched to a 9265 before I got to it. Chances are that it will work but I am not 100% sure.

[Nizzen]

Crucial m4 fw009 @ M1015 flashed to LSI 9240-8i

[mattkosem]

Crucial m4 fw009 @ M1015 flashed to LSI 9240-8i

Can you share the 9240-8i sbr file? I normally flash the LSI firmwares onto my M1015, but I'd love to make it a full 9240-8i.

--Matt